Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

What we’re seeing with “Mutant Mayhem” is what happens after every movie makes a bang at the box office. The “The Spider-Verse” movies were so beloved and influential that we can expect studios to ape its animation and storytelling style for at least a few years. The first of what will probably be many to come is “Mutant Mayhem.” Jeff Rowe’s animated movie is a new re-imagining of Eastman and Laird’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” franchise, but aimed a lot more toward Generation Z. That’s both a quality that improves what producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldbergh aim to be the beginning of a new wave of popularity for the Turtles, and a hindrance. 

After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers. Their new friend, aspiring journalist April O’Neil, helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.

“Mutant Mayhem” doesn’t just reboot the “Ninja Turtles” but it takes us back a bit with the writers now aiming for more of a “Year One” tale. This isn’t the Turtles at their prime, but the Ninja Turtles learning about their world. They’re actual teenagers that want to belong, and they’re learning what kind of power that they wield as potential warriors in the fight against evil. “Mutant Mayhem” is great at being an action movie but it’s a lot more of a coming of age comedy with a lot of action thrown in. For hardcore fans of the property this might be a turn off, but I appreciated the approach. Producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg lean “Mutant Mayhem” in to the teen movie sub-genre as a means of not just entertaining the target audience.

It also works as a means of helping the foursome connect with the preteens and tweens likely to flock to theaters. Each Ninja Turtle has their own reason for wanting to integrate in to society, but they’re kept tucked away from their over protective father and sensei Splinter. For the most part, the new formula works and it amounts to such a raucous and action packed movie. The sad fact is that the movie painfully under utilizes Splinter to where he’s pretty much an after thought for about a good chunk of the movie. The writers do eventually lend him a spotlight but it feels too little, too late by then. Meanwhile the villain for the film, Superfly, felt so stock and dull, despite the neat idea to feature a lot of the more prominent mutant characters in the “Ninja Turtles” gallery.

Despite their inclusion (gotta increase those toy sales, after all!) the mutants have almost nothing to do and aren’t given any real arcs. Even Bebop and Rocksteady who are featured have almost no dialogue. Superfly comes off as silly most of the time and his grand scheme is so derivative and convoluted. Did the writers not see the original “X-Men” movie? I also wish we’d seen so much more of the ninja turtles engaging in hand to hand combat. Often times their innate sense of skill and martial arts acumen felt watered down. Nevertheless, when “Mutant Mayhem” works, it works as the voice performances are energetic and charismatic, and folks like Jackie Chan and Ayo Edebiri help carry the movie to finish line.

I wouldn’t put it up there with the 1990 live action film, or even the 2007 CGI movie, but it’s a good first step in an interesting direction for the classic series.